BOONE, N.C. — A local professor and his wife are reacting to an armed rebellion by the mercenary leader of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, in Russia over the weekend.
Prigozhin’s forces claimed control of Rostov-on-Don and threatened to march into Moscow. By Saturday evening, the rebellion had been called off.
Channel 9′s Dave Faherty spoke to an Appalachian State professor and his family, who are from Ukraine, about the impact of the weekend’s events.
Professor Andrew Polonsky and his wife, Victoria, have been checking their phones throughout the weekend, hoping what end’s up happening in Russia is the beginning of the end of the war in Ukraine.
The couple got married in Kharkiv, Ukraine, and still have family and friends living there. Andrew’s father was able to leave Ukraine and is now living with the Polnsky’s.
“It’s hard to sleep when you see your family in the city, which is under shelling,” Victoria said.
Andrew Polonsky said Putin’s image has been greatly affected.
“This time this coup did not resolve into an actual coup, but it severely weakened Putin’s power,” he said. “It severely weakened his image as a strong man.”
Victoria says her mother is still in Kharkiv where the windows at her apartment were blown out by shelling during the war. Her hope is that the war ends and her mother can finally see her grandson in person.
The couple said some of their family in Ukraine had escaped to Poland.
(WATCH BELOW: Local family gives Ukrainian refugees security, support as war with Russia rages on)
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